Earlier today, Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano (D) delivered her annual State of the State Address to a joint session of the Arizona State House of Representatives and the State Senate. As a student of urban and public policy, it proved to be a delight. Her address is available as a PDF file here, and any background for the proposals she outlined are available here. She outlined proposals in several key areas (or chapters, as she likened Arizona's history and its future to a book) - and here are a couple:
I. Education
Governor Napolitano proposed making Arizona's high-school dropout age 18. She recognized that, unlike in ages past, a high school diploma doesn't stand on its own. To be successful as a person and competitive in the business world, a college degree is needed. But college isn't always affordable. Tuition always increases year after year, and so Napolitano proposed that the price you pay for in-state tuition at Arizona's three state universities your freshman year is the price you'll pay for the next four years. She also proposed making a four-year education for Arizona's excelling HS students free for all four years.
IV. Transportation and growth
Arizona will be, given its future growth projections and future transportation plans, a traffic nightmare. Getting between Phoenix and Tucson - Arizona's megapolitan - is horrendous. The Governor wants on Arizona's 2008 ballot a comprehensive, statewide transportation addressing all modes - because we cannot, in the Governor's words, "out-freeway" the problem. My favorite line from this section is this: "This plan must include not just necessary freeway construction, but also transit options – including a robust rail element – because we simply cannot out-freeway the problem."
From a public policy perspective, this will be an interesting year for the Arizona Legislature! Keep tuned as we see how Arizona writes its history.
Edward Jensen
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